Nightpaw's Courage
by Graystorm11
Summary: Warriors replaced with wild tigers! Nightpaw is not a normal tiger - he's black. Abandoned by his parents, when he does something terrible and unknowingly, will he have the courage to go on with his plan?
1. prolouge

**Hi. After spending half the night all week thinking about putting this story up, I decided to write it. Updates once a week. First: There are three clans. They are made up. Second: They follow the same warrior code as the original clans. Third: They do have Starclan. Fourth: To get nine lives, tigers have to eat something called a leader berry. Fifth: They are tigers. No cats. (I did set them up as being able to purr though but it's a fan****_fiction_**** not a fan****_truth_****.) Sixth: If you could give me OC's that'd be helpful. There will be a chart below about that. seventh: I. Don't. Own. Warriors. I don't want to anyway. Now you may read and enjoy!**

Prolouge

_A clearing in a forest in India was where it began. But first, I shall tell you about the tiger clans. There were three tiger clans; Fireclan, Snowclan, and Sunclan. They were made up of three different types of tigers. Orange tigers lived in Fireclan, white tigers lived in Snowclan, and golden tigers lived in Sunclan. Fireclan was the biggest clan with Sunclan being the smallest. This story occurs when two tigers from Fireclan and Snowclan have cubs._

A white tiger crouched over an orange one. "Come on, you can do it!" urged the white tiger.

"You have no idea how hard this is, Whiteclaw!" The orange tiger mewed through clenched teeth.

"You're doing fine, Blazingtail" Whiteclaw encouraged.

Blazingtail screeched as a cub tumbled onto the forest floor. The process was repeated twice more and soon three cubs were suckling contentedly on Blazingtail.

"Look, this one has white fur like you" Blazingtail pointed a claw at a she-kit.

"This one is orange like you" Whiteclaw nudged a sturdy tom with his nose.

"And this one…" Blazingtail trailed off as she looked at the last kit. It was another tom kit. Instead of a white pelt or an orange pelt, or even a golden pelt, he had a _black_ pelt. He was dark gray with a slightly lighter gray around his eyes. His black stripes circled his tiny body. He was beautiful, yet terrifying.

"We have to get rid of him." Whiteclaw's voice was harsh, but it had a twinge of regret. "If he's lucky, a wolf will kill him quickly."

"Black tigers have always been bad luck," Blazingtail agreed, "We'll leave him here. He'll be dead by sunset tomorrow."

"I'll take him before you go back to your clan. Speaking of which, if you take the white kit to Fireclan, they will know his father is from Snowclan. If you take just the orange kit, that would be fine, but I can't take white kit. Snowclan would want to know who her mother was."

"Do you have a tigress in your clan that you are friends with?" Blazingtail asked somewhat reluctantly.

Whiteclaw thought for a moment. "I've trained with a cat named Blizzardwind" he murmured thoughtfully. "She's expecting cubs any day now, but she won't tell the clan who the father is." Noticing Blazingtail's suspicious look, he continued hurriedly, "It's actually my brother but everyone thinks it's me. We've been friends since kithood; she'll keep the secret if I tell her. And my brother already knows, he heard me muttering your name while I was dreaming. He won't tell without a good reason."

"So that's everything sorted out," Blazingtail muttered, pain in her eyes for losing two of her newborn cubs.

"I'll see you soon," Whiteclaw promised. He picked up the white cub and turned his paws towards Snowclan. Blazingtail sighed and picked up her orange cub.

The forest sang with birdsong. Crickets chirped and far away, cattle lowed. In the midst of the forest, in a clearing where you could see the sun stain the sky pink, there lay the abandoned black tiger cub.

**Tiger Fact: There is no true thing as black tigers. There have been no confirmed sightings, so if a black tiger really exists out there, they are very good at staying hidden. There is, however, such thing as a golden or strawberry tiger. They are quite beautiful but very rare. This genetic does not come from the wild and it is supposed the coloration was created when a Bengal tiger and a white tiger mated. If two golden tigers reproduce, it is possible their offspring will be completely white with no stripes. White tigers (with stripes) are also rare but they do actually live in the wild. They are not albinos, and have health issues. Finally, orange tigers are the most common. The orange tigers used in this story are Bengal tigers, who are one of the largest big cats. Though orange tigers are most common, they are still endangered. Hope you enjoyed this week's tiger fact!**

**FORM FOR OC**

**Name:**

**Gene: (orange, white, golden)**

**Eyes: (only white tigers can have green eyes but it's very rare)**

**Age:**

**Personality: **

**Siblings:**

**Rank:**

**(I need golden tigers more than anything and also feel free to throw in the names for a leader of Snowclan and Fireclan.)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 1

**This chapter should be longer. Also, I still need a leader for Fireclan and more Sunclan cats (meme, your character will appear later since I can't put her in right now) Enjoy the chapter!**

A few stars appeared in the sky. The black cub began to grow hungry, but somehow his little mind knew he should not cry for food. A howl drifted on the stifling breeze. More howls joined it – the wolf pack was on the prowl. The little black cub trembled in fear but he stayed silent. His pale blue eyes were wide open with fright and he was cold.

A sudden rustling in the undergrowth made the black cub curl up in fear. Three golden tigers burst into the clearing – the sunset patrol.

"What can you smell?" The largest of the three questioned, speaking in a low growl.

The youngest one – a tigress – opened her mouth slightly. "Newborn cubs" She mewed, confused.

The largest one took a sniff. "She's right." He growled to a she-cat. "It's a tom-cub and he's alone."

The young tigress's gaze traveled across the clearing until it landed on the black cub. She gasped and rushed over to him, closely followed by the other two tigers.

"You poor thing!" she purred. "We'll take you back to the Sunclan camp."

"What's your name?" the black cub squeaked.

"I'm Brightpaw, this is my mentor, Riverstone, and the other tiger is Riverstone's old mentor, Mistcreek."

"My mother and father took my brother and sister away and they didn't tell me my name." The black cub mewled. Riverstone exchanged a glance with Mistcreek.

"We'll call you Nightkit." Mistcreek decided. "I'm sure Goldenpetal wouldn't mind fostering you."

"Who's Goldenpetal?" Nightkit asked, curious.

"Goldenpetal is a queen who has two cubs, Rainkit and Palekit. They're a half-moon old and they're her second litter. I mentored one of her first litter." Mistcreek explained, and then shot an amused glance at Riverstone. "At least she knows how to handle her second litter," Mistcreek joked.

"What?" Riverstone's jaws opened wide in mock indignation. "I was a good apprentice!"

'What about the time you thought you could hunt an elephant alone? And don't forget trying to catch a monkey in a tree," Mistcreek retorted.

"Alright, alright, so I wasn't good _all_ of the time."

"Never known an apprentice who was," Mistcreek purred.

After walking for a while, the patrol reached the Sunclan camp. Nightkit was riding on Riverstone's shoulders because he wasn't used to walking. However, being on the large tiger's back gave him quite a view. A gentle slope led to a hollow with steep cliffs on two sides. A rushing river made up a third side. The slope that the patrol began walking down was actually a narrow path with a gentle slope – more cliffs stood along the path on either side.

The camp was even more spectacular. Most of the dens were large clefts in the rock, but there was a large boulder in the center of the clearing with a split near the bottom. As Nightkit watched, a massive golden tiger padded out. He was even bigger than Riverstone, and much more muscular. His sharp yellow eyes landed on Nightkit and the large tiger blinked in surprise. Nightkit's heart caught in his throat as the large tiger padded to him.

"Who is this cub?" The large tiger growled. Nightkit slipped off Riverstone's back and crouched down.

"He was abandoned, Pebblestar." Brightpaw dipped her head respectfully. Pebblestar shot her an amused glance before turning to Nightkit.

"Where are your mother and father, little one?" Pebblestar asked the small black cub.

"My parents didn't like me so they took my brother and sister away without telling me my name. And it got dark and I was scared but Brightpaw found me. Mistcreek named me Nightkit." Nightkit explained, trusting Pebblestar completely.

Pebblestar's eyes had widened with horror. As he was about to speak a voice piped up from behind him.

"It's no wonder you were abandoned. Any self-respecting cat could hardly bear to look at you." The voice was sharp and cold, like ice. Nightkit turned to see a golden tigress with dark brown eyes striding towards the little group. Her narrowed eyes were trained on Nightkit.

"You should have left him," the tigress continued. "Remember the last time a black tiger came to the clans? My sister _died_."

"Echovoice," Pebblestar growled. "Darkclaw was evil because he was rejected. This is a newborn cub, not a dangerous warrior."

"Who knows what he will become?" Echovoice murmured, suddenly sounding weary and defeated.

"I want to live and be strong. I don't want anyone to feel abandoned" Nightkit squeaked.

Echovoice gave a harsh laugh. "And you've done a good job yourself, eh?" Echovoice rasped sarcastically. "Listen," the tigress growled, "I always thought my sister would be there for me and that she would always take care of me. When she sacrificed herself, I felt more alone than ever. You can't help abandonment, kit. So many cats tried to be there for me but you haven't even felt half the pain." Echovoice's eyes seemed to glitter black with sadness before she turned away.

Nightkit felt sad for Echovoice. Maybe he couldn't help all the abandoned tigers. Then he straightened. "No reason why I can't try" he muttered under his breath.

"Nightkit, come with me for a moment" Pebblestar commanded gently. The kit and the leader walked to the boulder that Nightkit had seen earlier. Pebblestar leapt up on the boulder, the moonlight making his golden fur silver. He helped Nightkit up, and the two cats stood on the rock, looking over the valley.

"When new cubs are born, they are given names that end with 'kit'. When they reach 8 moons, they take the names of 'paw'. When they are full-grown, they become warriors. Warriors can lead patrols and have mates. If you are a she-cat and you have kits, you move to the nursery and become a queen. When you're old, you become an elder and you don't have to do patrols anymore. If you're lucky, you could become deputy like Echovoice or leader like me." As Pebblestar explained about clan life, the moon reached its highest point.

Nightkit stared up at the moon, marveling in its beauty. As he watched, something strange began to happen. It was as if the night was swallowing the moon. He gasped and was aware Pebblestar was tensing next to him. The moon changed to a claw scratch in the sky until it was swallowed entirely. A blood red rim was all that remained and a soft, eerie, red light shone weakly down instead of the white moonbeams. As the tigers watched, the white moon began to return and the darkness shrank back. Soon enough, everything was back to normal.

**A lunar eclipse! Does it mean anything?**

**Tiger fact: Tigresses usually have three cubs per litter, and they should weigh about three pounds at birth. They don't leave their mother until they are two or three years old. When they do separate, males tend to go farther than the females. **

**Hope you enjoyed, -Graysie**


	3. Chapter 2

**ANNOUNCEMENT: I desperately need Sunclan Tigers! I don't care if you've submitted one, just do it again! Also, before you make an OC, check the reviews to see if someone else has used the name (like the 'golden' prefix) I have all leaders. Tigers needed are a) AT LEAST eight more warriors, b) three more apprentices, and c) another nursery queen and kits for Sunclan. Thank you. **

As Nightkit and Pebblestar stared in shock at the sky, a thin wail rose from a small cleft near the entrance. Pebblestar snapped his head around as a small tigress burst from the cleft.

"Swiftpool?" a well-muscled, long striped tiger called. "What happened?"

"Did none of you see the moon?" The tigress, Swiftpool, asked.

More tigers had gathered in the clearing and all shook their heads. "You know I wouldn't" said a nervous looking tigress. She appeared most uncomfortable being out in the night air.

"And how could you see the moon from inside your den?" the long-striped tiger questioned rudely.

Swiftpool flattened her ears. "Longstripe, see if I help you next time you get a thorn in your pad. Anyway, I was sitting at the entrance, not at the back."

"But what was the sign?" a tiger called out impatiently.

"The moon was swallowed by the night sky. As it returned, I heard a whisper in my ears saying, 'The black night can swallow something as white as the moon, but all will be made right in time, though possibly at a cost.'"

Panicked yowls came forth with this announcement, the nervous tigress screeching the loudest.

"Quiet!" Pebblestar thundered. Silence ensued.

"Everyone, go back to your dens. Goldenpetal, come here for a moment."

A lithe tigress padded up to her leader, a confused look that didn't seem to belong on her pretty face.

"The sunset patrol found something you need to look at." Pebblestar murmured, shifting so that Nightkit was in the sight of Goldenpetal.

"Oh!" Goldenpetal gasped, and rushed to Nightkit. She began licking the small cub lovingly.

"I'll foster him." Goldenpetal purred, guessing what the leader was wanting to ask her.

"But with his pelt?" Pebblestar's question stopped Goldenpetal for a moment.

After scrutinizing the young cub carefully, the beautiful queen shrugged. "A cub is a cub," she meowed. She picked up Nightkit by the scruff of his neck and headed to a round hole in the rock wall.

The hole opened up into a wide cave where another tigress was sleeping sprawled on her back. Two cubs were sleeping peacefully in the large nest where Goldenpetal had placed Nightkit.

"Go to sleep, little one. And when morning comes, the sun will shine and everything will be bright and new." Goldenpetal murmured the traditional sleep-chant and soon Nightkit's weary eyes were closing.

* * *

Nightkit woke up just after the dawn patrol left. He gazed around the den with curious blue eyes. His stare landed on the two cubs he had seen last night; now the sun shining on their pelts let Nightkit see them more clearly. One was a sturdy tiger with a pale gold pelt and a white face. The other was a darker gold tigress with almost no white on her – she was very beautiful. Nightkit guessed they were the 'Palekit and Rainkit' Mistcreek had mentioned. Palekit was obviously the one with the white face while Rainkit was the darker of the two.

Nightkit's mind drifted. What were his parent's names? His father was… Whiteclaw! Yes, that was it! And his mother was… Blazingtail? That sounded right. He knew why they had abandoned him. He was different.

"Who are you?" Nightkit's thought's snapped back to the cave. Staring at him with wide, pale blue eyes was Palekit.

"My name is Nightkit," Nightkit responded evenly. In the one day of his short little life, he had already accepted the fact cats would stare at him.

"Makes sense," Palekit shrugged. "I'm Palekit," the pale kit continued.

Nightkit nodded.

"Wanna play Warrior?" Palekit asked and grinned as Nightkit lashed his tail excitedly.

The two cubs burst out of the nursery and Nightkit blinked. The sun was so bright!

"The sun's so bright!" Nightkit complained, earning himself a confused look from Palekit.

"It's _supposed_ to be bright," Palekit grumbled.

Nightkit didn't care. He liked the night better, with its soft shadows and the gentle glow of the moon.

"Who brought _that_ into camp?" A sharp voice growled behind the two tiger cubs.

Rainkit was glaring at Nightkit and the black cub realized she was a lot less pretty when awake. Her dark blue eyes were like dark pools of water, ready to suck you into their depths.

"Let the clan gather!" Pebblestar's roar sounded like thunder.

Once all the tigers and tigresses had crowded beneath the boulder where Pebblestar sat, the muscular leader announced, "Sunclan has accepted a cub into its ranks. Nightkit, come forward."

Nightkit's paws carried him forwards even though he was painfully aware of the whispers spreading throughout the clan.

"Nightkit, you will be raised by Goldenpetal. Palekit and Rainkit will be your brother and sister. But for a more concerning matter, few tigers in this clan would want to mentor you when the time comes. Will anyone volunteer?"

The clan shifted for a moment but the silence was broken by a single rumble of "I will."

**New chart for OC's because there were glitches in the old one.**

**Name:  
**

**Gender:**

**Gene:**

**Eye color:**

**Rank:**

**Personality:**

**Other features: (strange pelt markings etc.)**

**Tiger Fact: Unlike domestic cats, tigers love water! They swim to cool down, in fact, if you google 'white tiger' you will come across a picture of a white tiger underwater. I've read an article where someone had some tame tigers and one day they got in her pool and started swimming around!**

**Review for my story!**


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